


H is for Henry

by Avirra



Series: Emergency Alphabet Tales [9]
Category: Emergency!
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-03
Updated: 2014-03-03
Packaged: 2018-01-14 09:14:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1260988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Avirra/pseuds/Avirra
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sure, maybe a basset hound isn't everyone's idea of what a firehouse dog should look like, but don't tell that to the crew of Station 51.</p>
            </blockquote>





	H is for Henry

It was an unusually quiet day. The weather was mild and the crew of Station 51 had just finished up their lunch. Johnny had dish duty while Roy was cleaning up the table. Mike already had Big Red to a high gloss, Marco was looking at the newspaper and Chet was doing duty as Henry's favorite warm cushion. That was the situation when a visiting group of three firemen from a northern California station came in without prior notice. They had come down for a training seminar and decided that they wanted to get a view of a station with paramedics first hand.

Fortunately both Johnny and Roy were close to finishing their chores, so they directed the trio over to where Chet and Henry were.

"Grab a seat. We'll be with you in about five minutes."

Chet greeted the men, idly rubbing Henry in one of his favorite spots behind his eyes. The first snicker from the group is what really caught his attention though.

"Something funny?"

"You call that a firehouse dog?"

"Actually, we call him Henry."

"Not exactly a Dalmatian."

"Good eye. Henry here is more of a basset hound."

The mocking tone the three were using had now drawn the attention of the other five members of the crew, but Chet seemed unconcerned, so none of them stepped in to defend Henry's honor. Yet.

"So - what's he good for?"

"Henry? Henry here is the best trained dog in the state of California."

Marco and Mike exchanged glances on that. If Henry had training in anything other than sleep, it was news to them. From the expressions on Johnny and Roy's faces, it was news to them as well. It was also obvious that the visitors weren't buying it.

"That mutt? Trained?"

"Yep. Most obedient dog ever. Our Captain gave him the command to stay six months ago and he hasn't budged from here yet."

As the snickers started among the rest of the 51 crew, the visitors groaned as they realized they'd been had. Chet just gave them a not-fully-friendly smile back.

"Never diss another station's mascot, guys. He might not seem like much to you, but Henry here means a lot to us."

The older of the three men laughed then and nodded.

"Guess that was the equivalent of going up to an engineer and insulting his engine."

"Which I wouldn't advise."

Of course, the three men didn't know Mike's reputation for not speaking much, so they had no idea why all the other men started laughing so hard just because Mike said that. But since the laughter from the 51 crew lightened the mood, one of the men walked over to Chet and extended his hand.

"Let's try this again. Scott Day, Trinity County Fire Department. These are guys are from different stations - George Colthrop and Frank Moore. Nice looking dog you have there."

"Chet Kelly, Station 51. Henry and I are pleased to meet you."

The ice was broken all the way around after that. Frank, who had been the one that started the dog comments, made the mistake of dropping something beside the couch and Henry favored him with an extra-slobbery chin-to-forehead tongue swipe. Backing off quickly and nearly tripping over himself in the process, Frank wiped off his face and then started to chuckle.

"Alright, alright - I guess I deserved that for the Dalmatian crack. I concede that Henry is a great fire house mascot. With that tongue, he could probably put out most fires by himself."

Chuckling, Johnny waved the men over to give them a tour of the paramedic unit. As they headed into the bay, Roy couldn't be positive, but it sure seemed like Henry was wearing a look of pure canine satisfaction as he resettled his head in Chet's lap and the ear rubs started again.


End file.
